DACTYL is a valid Scrabble word — 12 points
Yes. DACTYL is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 12 points in Scrabble and 13 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept DACTYL?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Valid |
Word power: 35 / 100
Our own measure of how useful DACTYL is to know. It scores 12 from 6 tiles, takes 2 hooks, and its letters make up 4.5% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for DACTYL
Checked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How DACTYL scores
Face value of the 6 tiles in DACTYL, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| d | 1 | 4 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| c | 1 | 2 |
| t | 1 | 6 |
| y | 1 | 2 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 6 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 344,923.
What stands out about DACTYL
- DACTYL gets by on a single vowel across 6 letters.
Counted from the four word lists we hold, not taken from anywhere else. How we calculate things
What does DACTYL mean in Scrabble?
noun
technical
A metrical foot made of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones, as in the word poetry said aloud.
The name dactyl comes from the Greek word for a finger, since a finger has one long bone followed by two shorter ones. Classical Greek and Latin verse counted long and short syllables instead of stressed ones, but English poets borrowed the term for the same rhythmic shape. Poems built on this pattern have a falling, rolling beat that suits galloping or chanting lines. The word can also mean a finger or toe in older anatomical writing.
How DACTYL is used
Used in prosody and poetry criticism; the adjective form is dactylic.
- The first line of the poem opens with a strong dactyl that sets the galloping pace.
- Every dactyl in the stanza falls on a name, which gives it a drumbeat feel.
- She tapped the table once, then twice softly, to mark a dactyl.
- Students learned to scan the line by marking each dactyl with a slash and two dots.
- A dactyl is easy to hear in the word merrily when it is read slowly.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of DACTYL and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with DACTYL
Showing 24 of 25 words that begin with DACTYL.
Shorter words from the letters in DACTYL
Common questions about DACTYL
- Is DACTYL valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts DACTYL, where it scores 13 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is DACTYL worth?
- DACTYL is worth 12 points in Scrabble and 13 points in Words with Friends.
- What does DACTYL mean?
- A metrical foot made of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones, as in the word poetry said aloud.
- What letters can be added to DACTYL?
- DACTYL takes 2 hooks: 0 in front and 2 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 6 letters of DACTYL:
Open DACTYL in the Word Finder